News and Features by Region California Archives - Page 2 of 8 - News and Features

Predicting future patterns of coastal inundation from sea level rise requires knowledge of changes in sea level and changes in elevation of land surface. Surface elevation tables—mechanical devices permanently installed in wetlands—allow scientists to measure small changes in surface elevation precisely and accurately. These devices have been installed in coastal wetlands across the U.S. by […]

A special issue of the journal Oceanography published in March highlights a number of accomplishments and findings of the U.S. component of the Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (GLOBEC) program. For over 20 years, this multidisciplinary research program initiated by the United Nations conducted research in the U.S. and around the world, focusing on the potential […]

Earlier this year, the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC) approved a new assay developed by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) as an official method for identifying toxicity that could result in paralytic shellfish poisoning. This approval is the culmination of more than a decade of effort to find an alternative to live animal […]

Four NCCOS scientists wrote a NOAA technical report on “Oceans and Marine Resources in a Changing Climate” that led to a chapter in the Third National Climate Assessment (2013), produced by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Carol Auer, Quay Dortch, Elizabeth Jewett, and Cary Lopez participated in this comprehensive review, wherein 63 experts examined […]

NCCOS scientists and their partners from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) are investigating the causes of Pseudo-nitzschia blooms and toxicity in Monterey Bay, Calif. from Sept. 5 to Oct. 10. Under the right conditions, some Pseudo-nitzschia produce domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin. Domoic acid accumulates in fish and shellfish, has caused bird and […]

The importance of algal blooms to the ecology of the ocean, including harmful red tides, is highlighted in a new “podcast” from the California nonprofit “Thank You Ocean Campaign.” The podcast, entitled “Should We Fear Red tides?,” features Dr. Raphael Kudela from the University of California Santa Cruz. Dr. Kudela explains why harmful algal blooms […]

On June 25, NCCOS HAB Program partner Dr. Julia K. Parrish was honored as a Champion of Change by the White House. Dr. Parrish is the founder and executive director of the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST), a group that organizes coastal residents to monitor beach-cast seabird carcasses in California, Oregon, Washington and […]